Fiona Sims heads to Istanbul for the Dom Pérignon 2002 launch

Published: 04 February, 2013

I am led in silence to a white curtained tasting booth. On the Philippe Starck-designed table is a Riedel glass of rosé Champagne. There is also a spittoon - though I don't hear any spitting coming from the other nine occupied booths, just the odd sigh. And there is a view of the Bosphorus, glittering in the sunlight through the former sultan's palace window. Welcome to the launch of the Dom Pérignon's rosé vintage 2002 in Istanbul.

After 10 minutes of quiet contemplation (I made a tasting note, then checked my emails), we were gently asked to vacate the space to let someone else enjoy their moment of vinous navel-gazing. It was a long morning - there were dozens of us, who had flown in (courtesy of Dom Pérignon) from India and Hong Kong, London and New York.

The last Dom Pérignon vintage launch, for the 2003, saw winemaker-in-chief, Richard Geoffroy, make an appearance via a hologram in a simultaneous multi-country link-up - allowing him to attend a breakfast in Hong Kong and a dinner in California. Though plans for the next vintage launch in May, for the 2004, are still under wraps.

Istanbul was chosen for this launch, so the PR guff attempts to explain, because "the words used to describe Dom Pérignon's Rosé Vintage 2002 - dark and luminous, rich and vivacious, mineral and sensual, ample and precise, inviting and mysterious - could also be applied to the city spanning two continents." Hmm.

So what's Geoffroy's take on the location? "I confess I have never been here before, but I had in my mind a place of the senses. My first thought is the light - the golden light, the fruit light. It's so intriguing. And it's so highly symbolic - the meeting of East and West. Two great worlds of history, tradition and culture. It's about venturing beyond borders, and discovering the unknown in the known," adds Geoffroy, enigmatically. No, I'm none the wiser either.

A hush descends over dinner as Geoffroy takes his place underneath the illuminated Dom Pérignon 'shield', suspended on invisible wires high above the event space (another sultan's palace).

He welcomes the hundred plus international guests - a mix of merchants and Very Important Customers (plus a few grateful hacks happy to share the experience), with the skill of a politician and the charm of a cabaret host, before letting us scoff a six-course dinner cooked by two-Michelin starred French chef, Jean-Francois Piège, flown in from Paris specially for the occasion.

Every course is washed down with copious 2002, which provides a surprisingly sturdy match for the scallop ceviche and the Iskenderun shrimps with chestnut chips, plus a dish of Antalya spinach carpeted with black truffles, as well as happily oiling the after party, which went on until the early hours.

It was a show-stopping end to a day of "filling the senses", as Geoffroy put it, which also included a quick spin around Istanbul's spice market snorting up saffron and sandalwood, and a workshop with the nose of Guerlain, perfumier Thierry Wasser.

Wasser created a fragrance especially for the event, Rose Nacrée du Désert, which taps into Geoffroy's vision of the vintage, drawing on the East meets West theme - cue rose petal scent, with a saffron incense back note.

After sniffing the individual components of the fragrance, we set out to recreate an edible version, using ingredients that we will taste at the dinner that night, in a quest to understand the delicate art of blending and balance. "It's very subjective," mumbles Wasser, as I tip too much cardamom powder into a cup of jasmine tea.

Maybe it's a big dose of autosuggestion, but I think I'm beginning to get the reason behind the launch location, as the sun sets amber red over the minarets - the same shade of the deepest rosé Champagne I've ever seen.

And is that a faint whiff of saffron and roses in the glass? With a crunchy apple and pomegranate acidity, and a full-bodied smoky meatiness that at a (very big) stretch could echo the pervading scent of charcoal grill that lingers in the air in Istanbul, it's complex, certainly - a bit like the city itself.

So what of the 2002 vintage? "It was as ripe as it could be - riper even than 2003," replies Geoffroy. "We got six weeks of golden light - an Indian summer, and it reached new heights of ripeness, which we couldn't have expected. There is an underlying structure to the wine, a substance on the palate, then intensity. In fact, it could be the most intense vintage ever in the history of Dom Pérignon rosé. There's something bolder and more provocative in this wine, a result of continued efforts in viticulture and winemaking. It's a continual process of pushing boundaries - and we like to push boundaries."

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